The present invention relates to a pallet and transportation container for use in transporting cargo.
Conventional pallets and transportation containers have a general structure made of metallic materials, plastic materials, corrugated cardboards, woods or the like. In usual applications, they have been typically made of woods. Metal products involve undesirably increased weight and inferior operation performance. In addition, these metal products leads to increased transport cost, particularly in dealing with air cargo. In plastic products, it is necessary to prepare an expensive molding die for fabricating such pallets or transporting containers. This increases their manufacturing cost, and imposes a restriction on providing various sizes of pallets or transporting containers, resulting in restricted application. In products made of corrugated cardboards, the corrugated cardboards inevitably include a space therewithin. This space undesirably allows moisture to flow in therethrough, and provides low strength of the products and deteriorated operation performance of nailing, screw clamping or bolting. Thus, it is not easy to assemble the pallets or transportation containers made of corrugated cardboards by means of nailing, screw clamping or bolting.
On the other hand, for cargos transporting from United States, Japan and other countries to China, a duty of undergoing plant quarantine and a ban on using wooden materials for packing may be put in force for preventing an invasion of pest insects. In the event of using transportation containers made of woods, it is require to subject to appropriate heat treatments for pest control and to have an official certification as to a proof of such heat treatments. Thus, a lot of cost, time and labor will be imposed to take the heat treatments and acquiring the certification. Particularly, in view of time scale, it will be difficult to adequately handle transportations with urgency such as air cargos. However, plywood (veneer plywood or veneered wood) has no requirement for the above heat treatments and the certification as to a proof of such heat treatments because the plywood never includes pest insects therewithin and thereby has no necessity of pest control.
Further, it has heretofore been necessary to take a long time for an assembling or disassembling operation of the transportation container, and it has often been the case that the transportation container was damaged during opening the package.
In view of the above problems, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a pallet and a transportation container capable of eliminating the need of heat treatments, readily dealing with various sizes of cargos, and allowing an easy assembling operation.
In order to achieve this object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pallet comprising a mount panel made of plywood or hardboard, and a metal pipe leg having a substantially rectangular profile and for providing a space under the mount panel to allow a fork of a forklift truck to be inserted therein. The metal pipe leg has a substantially horizontal axis and is nailed to the mount panel by a screw-type nail.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pallet comprising a substantially rectangular mount panel made of plywood or hardboard, a metal pipe leg having a substantially rectangular profile and for providing a space under the mount panel to allow a fork of a forklift truck to be inserted therein, and a resin material filled in the interior space of the leg. The leg has a substantially horizontal axis and is nailed to the mount panel by a screw-type nail. Further, the front end of the nail is struck into the resin material.
In the above pallet according to the present invention, the mount panel is made of plywood or hardboard, and the leg is made of metal. Thus, differently from conventional wooden pallets, the pallet of the present invention has no need of pest control, and thereby no requirements of heat treatments, the certification as to a proof of such heat treatments and the like. The mount panel made of plywood or hardboard may provide a sufficient strength. Plywood or hardboard may be readily cutoff to fabricate various sizes of pallets, and may provide lower manufacturing cost than that in aluminum. Differently from aluminum products, the mount panel made of plywood or hardboard may be readily assembled with nails, and its weight reduction may be more effectively facilitated than metal panels such as steel panels. In addition, the leg composed of a metal pipe may be readily fabricated by cutting off a long metal pipe and fabricated in various sizes of pallets. Such leg may be more reliably assembled with high strength as compared to plastic or paper products, and may readily assure an adequate height required as a distance retainer. Further, using screw-type nails may prevent the nails from coming off despite of forming the leg from a metal pipe. Thus, various sizes of pallet may be readily fabricate on site of an operation for loading a cargo, and may eliminate the requirements, such as heat treatments, the certification as to a proof of the heat treatments to cope with various cargos. This is advantageous particularly for air cargo.
As described above, when the metal pipe leg is nailed, the front end of the nail can undesirably project into the interior space of the metal pipe. In the pallet of the present invention, the interior space is filled with the leg resin material. This may prevent the front end of the nail from accidentally coming into contact with an object. Further, the front end of the nail is struck into the leg resin material to prevent the leg resin material from getting out of the leg.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transportation container comprising: a substantially rectangular mount panel made of plywood or hardboard; a metal pipe leg, having a substantially rectangular profile, disposed under the mount panel, and including light and left sections each along corresponding one of the right and left sides of the mount panel with placing each side face of the light and left sections on substantially the same plane as that of corresponding one of the end faces of the mount panel; front and rear vertical-panel support members, each of which is mounted on the upper face of the mount panel and is disposed along corresponding one of front and rear sides of the mount panel with keeping a given distance from corresponding one of the end faces of the mount panel; right and left vertical-panel support members, each of which is mounted on the upper face of the mount panel and is disposed along corresponding one of the right and left sides of the mount panel with placing each side face of the right and left vertical-panel support members on substantially the same plane as that of corresponding one of the end faces of the mount panel; front and rear vertical panels, each of which is made of plywood or solid hardboard and has a lower edge mounted onto a mounting face in the outer side face of corresponding one of the front and rear vertical-panel support members by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting from outside; right and left vertical panels, each of which is made of plywood or solid hardboard and has a lower edge mounted onto the leg from outside by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting and mounted onto a mounting face in the outer side face of corresponding one of the right and left vertical-panel support members by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting from outside; a beam made of a metal pipe or paper pipe and disposed along the upper side of each inner face of the vertical panels; a substantially rectangular top panel made of plywood or solid hardboard and supportedly positioned on the upper end face of the beam; and a column made of a metal pipe or paper pipe and disposed on the inside of each butt corner formed by adjacent vertical panels to extend vertically, wherein the mount panel, the front, rear, right and left vertical panels and the top panel define an interior space serving as a cargo space, the vertical-panel support members being made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe and plywood, and the column being mounted onto each of the vertical panels from the outside of the vertical panels by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting without nailing, screw clamping or bolting to the vertical-panel support members and the beam.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transportation container comprising: a substantially rectangular mount panel made of plywood or hardboard; a metal pipe leg, having a substantially rectangular profile, disposed under the mount panel, and including light and left sections each along corresponding one of the right and left sides of the mount panel; front, rear, right and left vertical-panel support members, each of which is mounted on the upper face of the mount panel and is disposed along a corresponding side of the mount panel; front, rear, right and left vertical panels, each of which is made of plywood or solid hardboard and is mounted onto a mounting face in a corresponding outer side face of the support members by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping or bolting from outside; a beam made of a metal pipe or paper pipe and disposed along the upper side of each inner face of the vertical panels; a substantially rectangular top panel made of plywood or solid hardboard and supportedly positioned on the upper end face of the beam; a column made of a metal pipe or paper pipe, disposed on the inside of each butt corner formed by adjacent vertical panels and extending vertically; a vertical corner member made of solid hardboard, disposed on the outside of each butt corner formed by adjacent vertical panels and extending vertically so as to cover the outer face of both edges of the adjacent vertical panels; a horizontal corner member made of solid hardboard, disposed on the outside of each butt corner formed by the top panel and the vertical panels and extending horizontally so as to cover the outer face of both edges of the top panel and the vertical panels, wherein the mount panel, the front, rear, right and left vertical panels and the top panel define an interior space serving as a cargo space, the vertical-panel support members being made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe and plywood, the column being mounted onto the vertical panel from the outside of the vertical corner member by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting without nailing, screw clamping or bolting to the vertical-panel support member and the beam, and the vertical panel and the top panel being mounted onto the beam from the outside of the horizontal corner member by means of either one of nailing, screw clamping and bolting.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transportation container comprising: a substantially rectangular mount panel made of plywood or hardboard; a metal pipe leg, having a substantially rectangular profile, disposed under the mount panel, and including light and left sections each along corresponding one of the right and left sides of the mount panel; front, rear, right and left vertical-panel support members, each of which is mounted on the upper face of the mount panel and is disposed along a corresponding side of the mount panel; front, rear, right and left vertical panel, each of which is made of plywood or solid hardboard and is nailed to a mounting face in a corresponding outer side face of the support member from outside; a beam made of a metal pipe or paper pipe, nailed to the inner face of the vertical panel from the outside of the vertical panels, and disposed along each upper side of the vertical panels; a substantially rectangular top panel made of plywood or solid hardboard, and supportedly positioned on the upper section of the beam and nailed to the beam from above; a column made of a metal pipe or paper pipe, disposed on each butt corner formed by adjacent vertical panels and extending vertically, wherein the mount panel, the front, rear, right and left vertical panels and the top panel define an interior space serving as a cargo space, all of the mount panel, vertical panels, top panel, leg, vertical-panel support members, beam and column being assembled and fixed by means of nailing with screw-type nails, the vertical-panel support members being made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe and plywood, the column being nailed from the outside of the vertical panel without nailing to the vertical-panel support member and the beam, and a part of the screw-type nails hammered to at least one panel of the vertical panels and the top panel having a head formed in hexagon for fitting to wrenches.
In the transportation containers according to the present invention, each of the vertical panels may be formed by laminating a plurality of solid hardboards including an outer hardboard and inner hard board. The outer hardboard may have side edges each protruding outward from a corresponding side edge of the inner hardboard, and each side edge of the inner hardboard in one of the vertical panels may be opposed to the edge of the inner face of either one of the hardboards in another vertical panel.
In this vertical panel composed of the plurality of solid hardboards superposed each other, the outer hardboard may include an upper edge having a substantially the same height as the upper edge of the inner hardboard and an lower edge located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge of the vertical panel is covered by the top panel.
In the vertical panel composed of the plurality of solid hardboards superposed each other, the outer hardboard may includes; an upper edge located lower than the upper edge of the inner hardboard; and an lower edge located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge of the vertical panel may be covered by the top panel. Further, in the vertical panel composed of the plurality of solid hardboards superposed each other, the outer hardboard may include; an upper edge located lower than the upper edge of the inner hardboard; and an lower edge vertical-panel support members and the leg, reliable fastness may be provided with high strength. Further, nailing the column from the outside of the vertical panels prevents the head of nail from deteriorating the containability for cargos. Disposing the front and rear vertical-panel support members for mounting the front and rear vertical panels with keeping a given distance from the end face of the mount panel allows the lower edge of the front and rear vertical panels to be supported by the mount panel. Furthermore, since the column, vertical-panel support members and beam are nailed to the vertical panels without being directly connected with each other by means of nailing, screw clamping or bolting, these components may be readily separated when the vertical panels are detached.
In one aspect of the present invention, the corners of the transportation container are covered by the corner member. This allows the corners to be desirably protected and may prevent water or the like from intruding inside as less as possible.
In one aspect of the present invention, all of the mount panel, vertical panels, top panel, leg, vertical-panel support members, beam and column are assembled and fixed by means of nailing with screw-type nails, the vertical-panel support members being made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe and plywood, the column being nailed to each of the vertical panels from the outside of the vertical panel without nailing to the vertical-panel support member and the beam, and a part of the screw-type nails hammered to at least one panel of the vertical panels and the top panel has a head formed in hexagon for fitting to wrenches. In this case, the assembling operation is completed by hammering the screw-type nails. This may provide a speedy operation, and may more effectively located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge may be covered by the top panel.
Further, the transportation containers according to the present invention may further include: a metal pipe center leg having a substantially rectangular profile and disposed between and substantially in parallel with the right and left leg sections of the leg; a partition member disposed longitudinally on the mount panel, located between the right and left vertical-panel support members, positioned substantially right above the center leg, and made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe or plywood; an elastic resin material having a buffering function, and disposed between the partition member and the right vertical-panel support member and between the partition member and the left vertical-panel support member; a floor panel made of solid hardboard or plywood, covering over the elastic resin material, and having a central section and edge section supported by the partition member and the vertical-panel support members, respectively.
Additionally, in the pallets and the transportation containers according to the present invention may further include a connecting member, such as a bottom panel or supporting leg, made of a plywood or metal pipe and for connecting to different sections of the lower face of the leg.
According to the above transportation container of the present invention, the components of the transportation container are made of plywood, metal and solid hardboard. Thus, differently from conventional wooden transportation containers, the transportation container of the present invention has no need of pest control, and thereby no requirements of heat treatments, the certification as to a proof of such heat treatments and the like. By mounting the right and left vertical panels on both the prevent the nails from coming off, as compared to conventional nails. Further, the vertical panels are nailed with nails each having a head formed in hexagon for fitting to wrenches so that these nails may be readily pulled out during an operation for opening packages. Thus, the operation for opening packages may be completed quickly, and the damage of the vertical panel may be desirably reduced.
In one embodiment of the present invention, each of the vertical panels is formed by laminating a plurality of solid hardboards including an outer hardboard and inner hard board, the outer hardboard having side edges each protruding outward from a corresponding side edge of the inner hardboard, and each side edge of the inner hardboard in one of the vertical panels being opposed to the edge of the inner face of either one of the hardboards in another vertical panel section. In this case, the strength of the vertical panel may be enhanced by laminating the solid hardboards. In addition, since each side edge of the outer hardboard protrudes outward from a corresponding side edge of the inner hardboard, and each side edge of the inner hardboard in one of the vertical panels is opposed to the edge of the inner face of either one of the hardboards in another vertical panel section, it may be effectively avoided to incur damage by water intruding from outside.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the vertical panel is composed of the plurality of solid hardboards superposed each other, wherein the outer hardboard includes an upper edge having a substantially the same height as the upper edge of the inner hardboard and an lower edge located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge of the vertical panel is covered by the top panel. If the upper edge of the outer hardboard protrudes outward from the upper edge of the outer hardboard, as with the side edges of the vertical panels, just intruding water is not discharged outside but intrudes inside as-is. In order to prevent this problem, the upper edge of the outer hardboard is arranged in a substantially the same height as the upper edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge of the vertical panel is covered by the top panel. Further, the lower edge of the outer hardboard is located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard. This may prevent objects from being caught on the lower edge of the outer hardboard.
In the vertical panel composed of the plurality of solid hardboards superposed each other, the outer hardboard includes an upper edge located lower than the upper edge of the inner hardboard and an lower edge located higher than the lower edge of the inner hardboard, and the upper edge of the vertical panel is covered by the top panel. This embodiment may desirably prevent water flowing along the end face of the top panel from intruding the inside of the transportation container through the upper end face of the vertical panels.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the transportation container includes the metal pipe center leg having a substantially rectangular profile. This center led is disposed between and substantially in parallel with the right and left leg sections of the leg disposed along the right and left sides of the mount panel, and disposed longitudinally on the mount panel and located between the right and left vertical-panel support members. Further, the partition member is positioned substantially right above the center leg, and is made of either one of a metal pipe, paper pipe or plywood. The transportation container further includes an elastic resin material having a buffering function and disposed between the partition member and the right vertical-panel support member and between the partition member and the left vertical-panel support member, and a floor panel made of solid hardboard or plywood and covering over the elastic resin material, the floor panel having a central section and edge section supported by the partition member and the vertical-panel support members, respectively. In this case, a baggage may be protected by the elastic resin material, and the partition member may prevent the elastic resin material to be deviated from the right position. Providing the floor panel on the resilient resin material may prevent exceeding sinking or unstability. Additionally, positioning the partition member right above the center leg may prevent the elastic resin material and mount panel from locally receiving excessive load.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description.